pee cologne*

If your TV tastes are anything like mine, you've been missing Parks and Recreation.

I liked having a steady dose of Ron Swanson, Perd Hapley, and Andy Dwyer.

One thing that helped temper the loss was Aziz Ansari's Netflix show, Master of None. Super funny and pretty darn spot-on. He could always make me laugh as Tom Haverford, and one of my favorite bits was his food slang, which actually has an entire site dedicated to it!

*Can you guess the food to which my title refers??

As an homage to Tom, I made some Chickie Nugs, known to normal people as chicken nuggets, little bite-sized pieces of chicken with a crunchy, flavorful coating of pre-toasted Panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasonings. They were moist on the inside and quite delicious! I can't say that they were very similar to what I remember from the fast food joints of my childhood, but that's probably a positive quality...

Parmy Parm Chickie Nugs
(printable recipe)
Serves 2-3
Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts or 3 tenderloins, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 cup Panko breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup finely-grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard
• Salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1-2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spread Panko out evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast until golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes--keep a close eye on it! Transfer to a small mixing bowl and let cool for a minute or two, then add Parmesan, thyme, mustard, salt, and pepper. Toss until combined. Rinse off the baking sheet, then cover with foil and place a rack on top.
Place flour and eggs in separate shallow dishes. Increase temperature to 450 degrees F.
One at a time, add a piece of chicken to the flour, and toss until coated, shaking off excess.
Dip it in egg until coated.
Transfer to the Panko mixture and toss until it is completely coated, pressing to adhere. Transfer to the rack on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken.
Bake until chicken is cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.